Spiders
by greatbigbeautifultomorrow
Summary: LUCAYA FLUFF Prompt: "Person A (Maya) is in the shower and they see an insect in the corner of the shower. They freak out and Person B (Lucas) has to somehow rescue poor A."


New York.

Her home state. Loud, busy and not exactly the cleanest place. Not that she didn't love New York- because she did- she _really_ did. It was just that every time she stepped off of the sidewalk and into the lobby of her apartment building she felt like she had a thick layer of grime covering her skin.

Maya trudged up the metal stairs of her apartment building, the shoes on her feet feeling heavier than cement blocks. She had just gotten done pulling a double at the busy clothing store she'd been working at, pulling racks, unpacking shipments, and folding (and refolding) the same shirts twenty five times. And the only thing she wanted to do right now was slink out of her clothes and slide right into a warm, hopefully hot, shower, and crawl right into bed. _Hopefully_ being the prime word. _Hopefully_ her stingy-loud-music-playing-neighbor hadn't already used it all.

She sighed as she reached her floor and shuffled over to her own door rifling for her keys in her small purse. The apartment was dim and small, there was one water heater per floor, and she was 80% sure that the elderly woman next door, Mrs. Dunst, was the definition of a cat woman, but the rent was cheap enough for a single girl on her own and it was close to work. So Maya grinned and bared Mrs. Dunsts' snippy comments about 'finding a man' and ignored the loud Country music that blared at weird times from the guy across the hall because (1) she had only seen him from behind as he slid into his apartment when she was walking out, (2) she couldn't ask him to do that when she didn't even know his name, and (3) the rent was cheap.

Maya pulled her keys out and slid open the door, practically falling inside her tiny home. Immediately she began stripping, tossing clothes, letting them fall where they may, and headed straight for her bathroom only pausing once to kick her underwear off of her feet before reaching the shower.

Maya stepped inside the shower and turned on the water, only jumping slightly at the freezing downpour before it thankfully began to warm. A small groan escaped her lips as she turned and let the water run down her small, lithe body. She could practically feel the layers of the day slide down her and into the drain.

She'd always loved taking showers. They were calming, warm, and comforting all at the same time. A place no one would disturb her. She could be alone with her thoughts as they washed away. She loved the extras she would buy for herself as well. The little luxuries she allowed herself:

That plush loofa that was $15, the special body cream she left right there on the right edge of the tub, the hair masks that were her secret weapon she kept all to herself, the spider that was hanging on the opposite corner watching over her…

Maya felt herself stiffen and become a practical statue as her eyes slid back up and over to exactly what she had feared… A gross awful spider that she was sure had 15 eyes and twice that amount in legs practically _laughing_ at her.

Maya kept herself as still as possible while backing slowly out of the small shower only to get in a small fight with the shower curtain as it brushed her leg on the way out. She let out a loud yelp and the spider moved closer.

As a general rule, she tried to do things for herself- fix the clogged drain, rent the carpet cleaner and clean the floors on her own, hang her own portraits, but a spider- well that was crossing some line, wasn't it? They gave her the chills and ever since Riley Matthews told her in the sixth grade that spider crawl up noses and lay eggs, Maya stayed away from them. Keeping an eye on her attacker she grappled for towel rack and pulled at the soft terrycloth, wrapping in around her body in a slow, cautious motion.

"Not today, Spider," She whispered, "Not today."

Backing out, her small hands clenched on to the top of her towel and when she finally made it past the bathroom threshold she turned, running towards her kitchen. She scanned the room quickly and spotted her broom. Maya grabbed it quickly and pressed her lips in a line as she held her newly acquired weapon out and away from her as she peered down the hall, towards the bathroom. The steam came out of the room from the shower like a fog and she had hated the spider even more in that moment for ruining what was supposed to be her blissful oasis into a proverbial battleground.

Narrowing her eyes, she weighed her options: (1) go down the hall, face the opponent head on, risk her own life in the process, and then somehow gather up the courage to pick it up and flush it, or (2) Go out into the hall, knock on the Country-music-guy's door and pray that he would answer the crazy tiny girl in the hallway in the towel.

Clearly, option 2 was the lesser of the two evils.

Swallowing, Maya tossed her broom on the ground and pulled her towel tighter around her body, then raised her chin, and walked towards her front door. Maya opened the door and looked out across the hall at her unknown-neighbors door and already felt the heat rising to her cheeks.

 _Come on Hart,_ She thought, _Just man-up._

Nodding her head once, Maya stepped out of her apartment and took the ten steps across the hall to his. She raised her hand to knock but was interrupted by the sound of a slow, country ballad stirring behind the door. She scowled and squared her shoulders and pounded her small fists against the solid oak. Then she waited.

And waited. She glanced behind her at her open door then back to her neighbors and pounded again, but louder this time.

And, if her day hadn't been bad enough, Mrs. Dunst opened her door. Maya's head snapped over to the eldery woman who stood at the door, her eyes wide as she took in the small blonde who was standing soaked and in a towel, in the middle of the doorway.

"Maya?"

Maya shuffled slightly and gave her a wobbly smile.

"Hi, Mrs. Dunst. I just…" She furrowed her brow and glanced over at the mystery neighbors door, "I needed some help."

Mrs. Dunst's eyebrows rose as a cheeky smile pulled at her lips. Maya tilted her head at the reaction, but the elderly woman cleared it up pretty quickly when she said,

"Finally found a man, hm?"

Maya felt her own eyes widen to the size of moons before a mad race of heat rose up her neck and across her cheeks,

"What? No- there's- there's a spider!"

Mrs. Dunst just clucked her teeth and winked at Maya,

"Clearing out the cobwebs, hm?"'

"Mrs. Dunst!" Maya felt herself gawk, "What…"

The elderly woman, born, raised and bread in Long Island, just nodded her head and winked again,

"Lucas isn't a bad one- good job, honey."

And without another word she turned and closed the door, leaving Maya even more flushed than before. And to her horror, when she turned around, her man-neighbor, or rather, Lucas, was standing there, eyebrow raised, arms crossed lazily over his front.

"Cobwebs?" He asked with a Cheshire grin.

"Oh god," Maya raised one hand to cover her face then cleared her throat,

"I'm so sorry- I just, I actually really do have a spider issue and I needed some help- I just…"

"Hey, hey, it's cool," He said with a laugh, "Need help?"

She nodded and dropped the hand from her less-burning face and looked up at him sheepishly,

"I feel so ridiculous, but to say this day has been crazy would be an understatement and now there's this predator in my bathroom."

She watched as he closed the door, a smile still playing on his lips, and he raised one hand, "Lead the way."

She looked at him for a second, and was struck. He was handsome. No- he was more than handsome- he was beautiful. Dirty blonde hair, olive skin, white teeth and the smile alone made her blood warm.

"Miss?"

She blinked and then, if it wasn't bad enough, she had been caught staring. Maya turned on her heels and ducked her chin against her chest and walked right into her apartment. Smooth. Today had not been her day and certainly wasn't the day to meet a downright gorgeous man who lived right across her apartment door.

"Maya," She said over her shoulder, trying to strengthen her game, "I'm Maya Hart."

"Lucas Friar," He said from behind her as he followed her into the apartment.

When they were both inside he walked past her and she closed the door and then took the moment to tighten the towel around her. He was looking over her space and she watched him as he did. When he finally looked over at her again there was a smile,

"Looks just like my place, but flipped."

She nodded, "So you know where the bathroom is?"

He glanced down the hall, "You mean the one with the steam pouring out of it?"

She felt herself laugh and nodded, "That's the one- like I said I feel so stupid. I know it's just a spider, but it's big. And I think it was mocking me."

Lucas glanced over at her with a bigger smile, "What? Was it calling you names?"

Maya rolled her eyes, "I thought I employed a knight, not a comedian."

"Two for the price of one," he said, then he turned and made his way down the hall and into the bathroom. Maya staggered behind, allowing him to go in alone and the smile he'd placed on her face had stayed too.

After a second the water turned off and then there was silence. Maya took a few steps down the hall and then asked, "Everything okay in there?"  
After a second he said, "Well, he tried to bite off my hair but I think I won."

She felt herself smile, and said dramatically, "My hero."

A silence then a flush, and he was back out there, wiping his sleeve where water had hit him. He glanced up at her, "All finished. You are spider free."

Maya sighed and nodded, "Thank you. Again, I'm sorry Lucas. I guess I didn't intend for our first meeting to be me in a towel and you saving me."

"All in a days work," Lucas said.

Maya nodded and glanced back towards the bathroom behind him and felt another wash of embarrassment as she saw her panties flung plainly down the middle of the hallway from before. "Well," She said in defeat, "Now that absolutely nothing is sacred, I better get back to my shower."

Lucas laughed and nodded, "I guess so. But- you used all the hot water, so your shower may be more of a brisk rinse."

Maya groaned and let her head fall forward and laughed, "Maybe I should just crawl into bed." She looked back up and ran a hand through her hair, "What do I owe you?"

Lucas shook his head, "Nothing. Just, next time you have a spider incident, don't forget to turn off the water," He said with a smile.

Maya shook her head laughing, "Duly noted. Thank you. Really."

"Not a problem," He assured as he began walking down her all towards the front door. She followed him out and opened it for him, then leaned against the door, holding on to the handle as her head rested against the side.

"Next time I see you hopefully I'll be in clothing. And dry." She said.

He turned around and shrugged, "It's New York."

"That it is."

He looked at her for a second, a smile still on his lips. She could feel his eyes on her as they slid over her slight form. She felt herself warm, but in an entirely new way, and smiled. He nodded his head and turned towards his door. She began to close her own when he stopped her.

"Hey, and Maya?"

"Yeah?" She asked.  
"Next time, maybe you could just come over to hang out?"

Maya smiled, and ducked her head for a second, and nodded, "Yeah. Maybe I could."

He nodded once and flashed her another devastatingly gorgeous smile, then turned towards his own apartment. She closed her door and shook her head.

Maybe spiders weren't so bad after all.


End file.
